The History of Buteyko

In the late 1940's a Russian medical student Konstantin Pavlovich Buteyko made an observation that has changed the lifestyle of thousands of asthmatics. Buteyko noticed that patients in the acute respiratory ward began to deteriorate when their breathing rate increased. He also noticed that those patients who reduced, or normalised their breathing began to recover. This fact had been noticed before, but Buteyko's subsequent research, and application of his observations, allowed him to develop the breathing techniques that bear his name.

For more than 30 years Dr Buteyko researched hyperventilation and the effect it had on the human body. Buteyko linked hyperventilation to several conditions, including asthma, and set about developing techniques to normalise breathing patterns. Thus, he was able to reverse symptoms, and in the case of asthma lessen the need for medication. Buteyko's research described why people hyperventilate, why the cycle continues to self perpetuate, and finally, how to reverse this cycle. Initially treated with a great deal of scepticism by the Soviet authorities, Buteyko was unable to get his method accepted as a viable alternative to the allopathic treatment of asthma.

However, Buteyko's persistence over a number of decades, and the possibility of a great reduction in medication costs for a strained Soviet health budget, enabled him to have the method accepted as a mainstream treatment for asthma. The Buteyko Method was adopted in the Soviet Union to treat asthmatics, largely for economic reasons. The Soviet Government could not afford costly on going medication, and the Buteyko Method dramatically reduced and sometimes eliminated the need for medication. It is reputed that the technique has now been successfully taught to over one million Russian citizens.

An Australian businessman was hospitalised during a business trip to Russia in the early 1990's. He was surprised to find he was not treated with conventional medicine. Instead he was taught Buteyko breathing techniques which dramatically improved his condition. He was convinced there was a market for Buteyko in Australia, so he arranged for the immigration of a Russian Buteyko expert, Alexander Stalmatski. He subsequently taught a large number of Buteyko courses around Australia and helped many thousands of Australians to overcome their asthma. A number of people who attended his course were so impressed that they trained to become Buteyko practitioners themselves, and ensured the proliferation of Buteyko around Australia.

Australia remains the strong hold of Buteyko in the western world, with considerably more practitioners than anywhere else outside of Russia. In the mid nineties, Alexander Stalmatski came to the UK to teach the Buteyko Method. Since then the amount of Buteyko practitioners has steadily increased and Buteyko courses are now being held throughout the country. The impressive results achieved through learning Buteyko have gained much media and medical attention and through ongoing clinical research and public awareness it is hoped that the technique will be available to all that would benefit.